Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Blind Welt 2

Just a sneak preview of Origin news, we have been awarded best "innovative use of textiles" in show for the Winkers by Selvedge Magazine. How about that? Look out for an editorial piece about us in the mag. Excellent.

The Other One is there now, so I don't have much else to tell you other than it is going well. The VIP private view on Monday was very successful and we made a lot of useful contacts. I am there tomorrow and Friday. Looking forward to it.

Now, back to blind welts and doing things for the first time. We had cut the welt all the way round like a bevelled waist. Next up is cutting the sole to size. Place the shoe on the flesh side of the sole and draw round the welt. It helps to open the welt slightly with the sleeking bone to make this process easier. Then draw a second line with the dividers set at 3/8". Continue this second line around the heel.

Before glueing this to the shoe, we have to prepare it. With a pen, mark a line half the thickness of the sole.

Skive the sole from flesh side to this line, then glass it to smooth any lumps and bumps.

Place the shoe back on the sole and remark the welt line, so that when you glue it on, you can put it in the right place.

Next you glue the sole and the underside of shoe with rubber solution, let it dry for 10 minutes and place the shoe on the inside line.

At this point, the sole is too big. You need to trim the excess to 3/16" from the welt. With the tip of an awl, mark a line at this distance from the welt. Do it freehand. This results in a white line in the glue.

Now trim it making sure you hold the knife at 90 degrees. Don't angle it. After that, knock the sole up towards the upper. You have to use a lot of force and get the sole as close to the upper as possible. You have to work at this point!